Fragment of a granite door built in the temple of Horus of Hierakonpolis

Fragment of a granite door built in the temple of Horus of Hierakonpolis by pharaoh Khasekhemwy and now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Everything suggests that after winning a crushing defeat on his enemies, the Horus Khasekhem changed its name to Khasekhemwy and dedicated a temple to the god Horus in the city of Nekhen (Hierakonpolis). The Palermo Stone (written in the mid-V th Dynasty) informs us that the king Khasekhemwy undertook the construction of a stone temple during his rule. The simple fact that this remarkable document stipulates that it was a stone building is already clear evidence that such stone buildings must have been quite rare in this early period. The large fragment of this door, from Hierakonpolis, may thus have belonged to that same sanctuary mentioned in the Annals of the Palermo Stone. Given that the king is called Khasekhemwy here, it appears that the building itself was constructed after the pacification and reunification of Egypt. Most of the door bore sculpted reliefs which are now lost and most of the accompanying inscriptions are illegible. Yet we distinguish on the left side the figure of king holding a scepter and a rod. Over his head is written his Horus name. Bibliography: Quibell, J. E. P.6 Hierakonpolis I, pl. II

 

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